Separator



Oct. 23, 1951 w. BAKKER 2,572,097

v sEPARAToR Filed oct. 7, 1948 s .sheets-sheet 2 MMM Oct. 23, 1951 I W,BAKKER 2,572,097

l sEPARAToR v l Filed oct. 7, 194s s sheets-sheets atented UNITEDLSliiTlES PATENT vO FF AICE I t sEPARA'roR v'tlilkir, arnhem, st'ii'ria,asgr to inericanijka Corporation, Enka, N. C., a corporation o fDelaware t l t Aplicatitnfoctober 7, 1948;'seria1-N0f53m In theNetherlands January I9, 1948 z'ciiis'. (01.210'5-171) n inventionrelates to apparatus forthe solo# eration of liquidsqand solids andmorepartilllar' 1y. .to a separating. device which .maybebuilt upeisimilar elements. and.. which is .characterized .by i

the easewith which .it m ay be cleaned by reversine theflowthroughtheseparator..

i.ilterine liquids through. adl.t.erv bedsas forexample, .in Water.purieationthere .is .usuale ly a device forreceiving the liquid after it.has been passed. through ,the .filter bed... JlThis. device lsfor thepurpose. of retaining theiilter material While.,.perrni.tting..` the..liquid .to continue itsiiow to. e, nointof collection for. use-.Whentnenlter materiel. in .a lter. Vlied loccornesy choked ordirty, thelfilterv bed is.. customarily .agitated .by back.: i.iushing witha fluidsuchasair.- liquid. or tnetwp westlich-. During. vthe hack-liu.'shingthe. separat: ingdevice associated with the .iilter rnustlefiecte; gooddistribution orthe liquid or gas Vwhich is used as a ushing medium butvvhclnis` owing in the opposite direction to the direction of the.liquid which was fllter ec'i. 4

For mdIlYyearsthelter bed of .water. puriii cation .apparatusVWasprovided with a sievelootf torn made of .Wire gauze...-,1n.nushingthe. liquid. was passedl iirst through. the Wire .ganse and l.then intothe lter hedy while duringprdinary filtrar.. vtion the liquid passedfirst through the lterbed and then out throughtheinterstitial spaces o1the vscrcen while theltering material was held.

back by the screen-. While this errangernenthas )been Widely used ithasseveral important disadvantages. In ythe first placetthe distributionfoi? ilushing fluid isirregular so that only partsoitlre filteringmaterial are cleaned and agitatedduring .ushing Furthermore, thegauzeis,V subjectsto corrosion and consequently requires frequent replacementwhich is a time-consuming and ex- Penve Operation ,i

A.Efforts have been made to avoid theforegoing y'disadvantage.ity .usingporcelainsieyespr .the .type

.having slits radially disposed from a central hulofVV .like area towhich liquid is supplied, Theseiilters have the disadvantage thattheradial slits .are. wider on the outside than at the inside makingthem xdiilicult to clean.y Furthermore, it .was not heretofore known tomake an inexpensive and. eesuyfessembied titer-ef the .radier sin.

the. foiesoiis. Siiiiioulti'es.. oithe .prior :artend .to provide a.sieve having, slits which discharge in the direction of theltratien,hayingislitswhich areladiustehleto size. after;constructionsandYcharacteriaed byeicellent passage and considerable facility incleansing.

i lil/tration apparatus.

prised 5 slits hounded hy parellellines. Y t ther. Qbiectsand. advantage.It .is proposedaccordingto the present invention to. provide .aseparatingA or. distributingde.- vice which canbe. easilymanuiacturedina glass ring onrnold and which is comprised.oftwoelementssoconstructed and arranged .as todelne between.them-.slits .which serve `to separate .solid substances from. liquidsAin thecase -or.ltration and to divide and distribute a liquid or gasstream .used asaiiushing mediuni- .1

.As a secondary object of .thisinventien proposed toprovidea.distributing devicefcorne. .of two.. ihteidigltating elenents defining.s of...th.is invention will. be apparent uponconsideration of .thefollowing detailed description Qtseveral embodimentsthereor in,conjunction with the annexed dfWngS Wheln .1 l.; Y. Figure 1 .is e Viewpartially.l in elevation and partially in section o f a separatingV anddistributing device constructed in acordance with the principles ofthepresentinventien;

v I i gure 2 .s a horizontal sectional view taken along the lineZ-ZofFigurel;

Figure 3 isa vertical sectional one tvpe of outlet for .thedistributingdevice; Figure 4 isa View in vertical section showing a modified type oroutlet for the distributing de- Vlce a i v.Figure dis a perspectiveviewer one of. the ele: ments of which the distributing device of thepreoedingiigures. iseonstructed; .1

Figure 6 is a View in elevation of a Singledis; tributingdeviceaccording to the. present inventien-.ine Verticei...position ofoperation;

Figure .7 isa viewsiiniler te Figure chut-dem: oristreting the operationof a plurality of devices oi the typ-e of Figure .6 arranged for seriesoperation ina vertical group; andt Figure 8 is a View partially inpartially in section of a stack of horizontally rar ranged distributingdevices according to the present inventionas they appear in conjunctionwith Referring now in greater detail to l, and 5 of the drawings`, .it/wi ll be noted that the separating and distributing device of thepresent invention is comprised of two identical elements effect totheelement; I0, .Referringnow toFigureV 2 it` is. noted that theelernent Lleomprissa hub view showing elevation and I3 and a plurality of teeth I4which are circumferentially spaced and extend upwardly from the hub I2in a direction generally normal to the plane of the hub. Within the hubthere are provided four protuberances I5, I6, Il and I8 which lie ingenerally parallel relationship to the teeth I4 and generally normal tothe plane of the hub. In between the teeth I4 there depend the teeth 2Uof the element I. As can be seen upon reference to Figures 1 and 2 theseparating and distributing device is constructed by placing twoidentical elements I and I I in mutually inverted position with therespective teeth interdigitating.

The cross sections of each tooth I4 and 2B are in the form of anisosceles trapezium so that when these teeth are interdigitated slits 2lare deiined which also have the shape of isosceles trapezia with thenarrow side of the slit facing outwardly of the separating anddistributing device. Toward the inside the top flat of the teeth isbevelled with the same slope as that of the sides of the teeth as aresult of which after interdigitation a slit 22 is formed which is alsogenerally triangular in shape as can be seen. upon reference toFigure 1. If concurrent reference is made to Figures 1 and 2 it wili benoted that the protuberances I5, I6, I'I and I8 are each provided with acentral cavity at 23, 24, 25 and 26 respectively. Similar cavities areprovided in the protuberances of the element I0, only one of which showsin Figure 1 at 21. When the two elements are put together in mutuallyinverted relationship a guiding pin such as is shown at 23 in Figure 1is inserted in each of the cavities 23, 24, 25 and 26 and projectionsabove that cavity can be received in the cavities of the protrusionsfrom element I0.

It can therefore be seen that the height of the protrusions of theelements IU and II controls the width of the opening between the teeth.

When, in constructing a separating and distributing device according tothe present invention, protrusions are arranged within the annulusdefined by the teeth and the two elements ID and II are fully identicalit is necessary that the ratio of the number of teeth to the number ofprotrusions be a whole number. It is also necessary that the protrusionsbe arranged symmetrically with respect to each other and that the anglealpha (see Figure 2) between the radius through the center of the outersurface of the tooth lying nearest the protrusions be onequarter of theangle between the radii to said centers of two successive teeth of anelement. Thus when there are twelve teeth, there must be two, three,four or six protrusions; in the case of ten teeth, two or iiveprotrusions, etc. The angle alpha between the connecting lines of thecenter of an element and the center lines of the outer surfaces of twosuccessive teeth amounts to er T when there are T teeth. Consequentlythe angle alpha amounts to 360 itx? QQ T By the use of identicalelements the important advantage is achieved that only one casting orpress mold is required for the manufacture of both elements. By thisexpedient the equality and similarity of the elements is insured and theslits are always equal. Furthermore, the identity of the elementsariords a great advantage in the assembly and disassembly of the deviceand for the replacement of an element in case of breakage.

If now reference is made to Figures 3, 4 and 5, it will be noted thatconstructions are indicated wherein there are twelve teeth and threeprotrusions. In this case one of the protrusions 29 will be smooth,another protrusion 30 will be provided with a projection of lesserdiameter than the protrusions proper and the third protrusion 3I will beprovided with a socket. Thus when one element is placed in mutuallyinverted position over another the registry is excellent due to the factthat the elements cannot move laterally with respect to one another. Thesize of the slit between the teeth is fully predetermined and can bedecreased at will by grinding off theprotrusions. It can be increased byarranging washers between the contacting surfaces of the registratingprotrusions. In other respects the disclosure of Figure 5 corresponds tothat of Figures 1 and 2. There is a hub portion 32, a plurality of teeth33 and a central apertureat 34.

By choosing a suitable shape for the cross section of the teeth a slitcan be obtained which discharges or has its larger dimension toward theinside of the device. The cross section can have a shape of a trapeziumas previously described or may be a half moon or a triangle. Besides astraight shape the sides of the teeth can also have any other shape solong as this does not give rise to difliculties during the molding andpressing of the elements. In practice it has been found desirable so toconstruct the teeth that the slits at their entrance and/or exit. arebounded by parallel lines such as are indicated at y--y in Figure 1.

With the device according to the present invention a very narrow slitcan -be achieved and yet this slit can be easily cleaned when theelements are dismantled so that the spaces between the teeth are verysubstantial. The possibility for range of adjustment of the slit openingis determined by the slope of the sides of the teeth. As has beenmentioned above the width of the slit can be determined by the height ofthe protuberances and this may be fully predetermined duringmanufacture. It is possible, however, to change a. ready cast element atwill by grinding ofi the teeth as well as the protrusions and this wasnot possible in constructions prior to the present invention.

It is also possible to use instead of protrusions as uninterruptedcollar having apertures therein. Preferably, however, protuberanceswould be lfrom the interior to the exterior of the device,

the element is sprayed in many directions. In

Figure 5 the champferings 35 at the sides of the spaces between theteeth have been arranged in such a way that with the bevelled innersurfaces 36 of the teeth 33 a slit is obtained which runs A almostvertical. The angle of the flat 36 with the horizontal and that of thefiat 35 with respect to the horizontal must be equal again with theangle of the sides of the teeth with the horizontal. Here, however, theteeth have a curved outer surface or at least are bent at their upperand lower extremities.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate two alternative constructions for theconnection of two elements together. In Figure 3 a hollow glass screwbolt 3'! is shown which can be used to fasten the device to the bottomof a filter 45 by operation of its threaded shank. The screw -bolt isprovided with four ports 31a leading radially to the interior of thedevice and with a head 4i which, through a gasket 42, bears against thetop of the device. The upper element of the device bears referencenumeral 43 in Figure 3, while the lower element thereof bears referencenumeral 114. The teeth and slits correspond to the disclosure heretoforemade and the protuberances as illustrated include one at 45 having acentral socket and one at 45 having a projecting portion engaging thesocket.

In Figure 4 a hollow collar bolt is shown for attaching the device to afilter bottom or the like. The filter bottom is indicated at 41, thehollow collar bolt is represented by the numeral 48 and the device isgenerally indicated at 49. In this case the upper surface of the collarbolt is externally threaded for coaction with an internally threaded cap50 which in threaded engagement with the collar bolt compresses a washer5l 'to bear down on top of the device 39. The collar bolt has a flangeat 52 which engages the inner surface of the filter bottom. The collarbolt is provided with radial slits 48a similar in structure and functionto the slits 31a of Figure 3.

In discussing the invention as it is shown in Figures l to 5 inclusive,reference has been made to but a single device constructed of twoelements. Actually the devices can be arranged serially or as a singleunit depending upon the capacity which it is intended to handle.

In Figure 6 there is shown a device 53 according to the inventionprovided with a screw bolt 54 similar in structure and function to thebolt 4l of Figure 3. The filter bottom is represented at 55 and theliquid discharging from the filter flows in the direction of thev arrowinto the hollow screw bolt and radially out through the slits of thedevice 5l.

In Figure '7 there is shown a construction involving three seriallyarranged devices 56, 5l and 58 which are held by a collar bolt 59 and acap 68 in stacked relationship with respect to a filter bottom 6 I. Theoperation is similar to that previously described.

In Figure 8 eight units are shown mounted on a tube 62 which passesthrough the Wall 63 of a Water purification plant. The number of unitson any tube can be increased or decreased at will and several such setscan be mounted near the bottom of a purification plant.

The water purification device according to the present invention ismanufactured from glass. For other purposes, as for example atomizing aliquid for evaporation and mixing purposes the device can be made, fromany material suitable to the liquid or gas which it is going to handle.For example, the device can be used for the drying of steam. In thatcase the steam to be dried is led from the exterior to the interior ofthe device and water drops present in the steam are retained by theslit.

While the invention has been described with reference to variousembodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the description isexemplary in nature for the purpose of instructing those skilled in theart how the invention may be made. It is to be understood, however, thatvarious modifications of the structure shown are comprehended within thescope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A separating device for use with filters or the like comprising apair of identical elements; each having a central hub portion defininga, central passageway, a plurality of teeth integral with the hubportion and arranged in circumferentially spaced relation extending in acommon direction generally normal to the hub portion, and a plurality ofintegral protuberances extending from the hub within the space definedby the teeth; said elements being arranged in mutually Vinvertedrelation with their teeth interdigitating and said protuberancesinterlocking to control the axial and circumferential spacing betweenthe interdigitating teeth.

2. A separating device for use with filters or the like comprising apair of identical elements each having a central hub portion defining acentral passageway, a plurality of teeth arranged in circumferentiallyspaced relation extending ina common direction generally normal to thehub portion and a plurality of protuberances extending from the hubwithin the space defined by the teeth; said elements being arranged inmutually inverted relation with their teeth interdigitating and saidprotuberances interlocking to control the spacing between theinterdigitating teeth, said protuberances being arranged symmetricallywith Y ment with the outer surface of the next adjacent tooth.

WILLEM BAKKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name f Date 1,588,620 Ryan June 15, 19262,234,678 Matson Mar. 11, 1941 2,495,996 Wolcott Jan. 31, 1950

